Running Blog

So, I was all ready for the same workout we did last Monday, but guess what. The blog lied. So we actually had 3x1 mile T pace+4x200. I was much happier with that. Our miles were supposed to be like 6:30-6:45. Our splits went 6:28, 6:28, 6:30. With every one, my calves got tighter and tighter.. by the last lap of the last mile, they just wanted to fall off. Also, my ears are stopped up and I couldn't hear anything. You wouldn't think that's that bad, but let me tell you. It's miserable. I couldn't hear anything Coach was saying, and every ten seconds or so, my heart would start pounding in my ears, then fade away again. During the 200's I was okay-ish.. the last one I was finally just like "oh, suck it up." and I went much speedier. Overall, it was a pretty good workout, except it took the entire cool down and then some for me to catch my breath. I really need to ice and roll out to get my legs back.

Easy 3 with 2x400 at the end. Easy peasy.

Easy 3 with striders on the freezing grass.. thanks, Liz.

Easy 3 with 4 200s.. and our last region soccer game, during which I ran my tail off. It was somewhat exhausting. I feel like soccer should count for mileage. But it's like over now, so whatever.. :P

AM: Easy 3 with.. nothing?! Dunno what happened there. A little sore from the game last night; I got shouldered in the quad (don't even ask how.. I jump like a black guy, apparently) and it's not feeling so great. My back never really got any better after the chiropractor either. Other than that though, I was feeling okay.

PM: Ahh! First double in a million zillion years! I was actually kinda excited for this workout.. but not really. We had a 1 mile warm up to Pizza Hut, then 2x1mile, 1x1000, 1x400, 4x200, all on the track. We started our first mile without Coach, and we just kinda assumed we were supposed to run around the same time we did last workout, which was a 6:30-6:40ish. Then after two laps, Coach informed us he wanted us to run 6:25's. Oh. So we picked it up a little, but I was expecting to be around a 6:30ish, since our first two laps had been slow. Turns out, we were speedier than I thought, and we came in at 6:16. That was kinda cool, cause I wasn't even tired really. Then we ran another at 6:18, and Liz went beast mode and stuck with us the whole time.. that was legit. Super proud of her. Our 1000 was kinda just me and Stoner together, and we ran that in 3:45.. we probably should have pushed the second lap harder. Ah well. The rest of the workout Stoner and I ran together, and our 400 was a 1:18. Our 200's felt fairly quick.. no times or anything on those, but I felt fine. My feet were killing me afterward, as I jammed a toe a few months ago and it's still hurting, and for some reason my left arch was hurting too. But the workout was over, so I didn't really care. Stoner, Mia, Kaelie and I started on our cool down.. but I kept coughing super hard, and eventually started gagging, so I turned around. Coach passed me and asked if I was puking, and I said no and kept going.. a few steps later, I puked. Gross. But it wasn't bad or anything, it's just cause of my cough. Later Roberts, Maquel and Aubrey invited me to cool down with them and I was able to run fine. Roberts and I had a conversation about region and what it's going to take for me to run with confidence and stuff like that. Our team can do it, I know we can. We just have to get it in our heads, and go out and do it.

'Easy' 3.. Holy speedy! I guess discussing missions just excites us, cause we caught up to the boys. And stayed there. My tummy didn't feel too good, and I walked out of 1st period early cause I just felt sick. But the rest of the day I ws fine, and I felt fabulous at soccer today.. Beyond stoked for region. I know without a doubt that our girls can do this! And our team dinner just made me more sure.. Even though we had a few breakdowns.. Sorry girls. (: Love you all dearly!

AM: Easy (much easier than yesterday!) 3.

PM: Race. I really wasn't sure how I was going to feel when it came to race time. Beforehand, I was just whatever. I couldn't even be bothered. I was dancing with Stoner and Mia, and singing and cheering. As it got a little closer to race time, I started to get a little snippy, but I wasn't really nervous. When we started, I got in a pretty good place for the beginning, and for the first little bit, Stoner and Aimee and I were running together. Then I just kinda.. fell off. I'm not really sure why. I didn't feel like I slowed down at all, and mentally, I still felt fine. But more people started passing me, and I was kinda just like 'what the heck?' cause I honestly felt like I was pushing. Obviously, with people, including a Cedar girl and Mia, passing me, I wasn't feeling as positive as I had been.. but my main objective was to keep the Cedar girl that I could hear behind me from passing me. That's pretty much the only thing that kept me going through that big lap. As we ended that lap, I knew I had to push harder, or she was gonna get me. I went to pass the Cedar girl in front of me (who also plays soccer, and I felt stupid talking to her the last time she beat me, so I wanted to get her this time), and she surged a little, and I kinda backed off.. then I tried again, and she surged again. So I tried to just stay right behind her and hope to get her at the end. The distance between us got a little bigger, but I just tried to keep her within sprinting distance. But as we started the medium lap, she passed Mia and I knew one of us had to go. So I started going harder.. and as we got to the bottom of that lap, I just went. I passed Mia, and kinda hoped she'd stay with me, but I really just wanted the Cedar girl. Finally, finally, finally I got to her and she surged a little again, but I was just like 'I do not have patience for this again, girl.' and passed her. I was a little scared of how early I started pushing at the end, but I just didn't want her to pass me back. So by the end, it was less of a kick to go get the girl in front of me as it was a kick to keep the Cedar girls behind me. So.. this race wasn't my best.. but I really felt like I was pushing. And I got the Cedar girl, so that was good.. And I beat my last time on that course, which is a refreshing change. Overall, our girls took 2nd, which was kind of a disappointment, but I am really proud of our girls and how hard we've worked this season and how far some of the younger girls have come.

Easy 3 to Arctic Circle.. State soccer game today.

Didn't go to practice this morning.. No ride and I was super tired from last night.

PM: workout. Yippee. 800, 600, 400, 200, 400, 200. I wasn't feeling great today. My stomach really was hurting.. No particular reason, I'm not sick anymore or anything, my body just hates me. But I tried to keep it positive.. I didn't even complain about it til after we were finished with the workout. Anywho. It was kinda drizzly when we started. Our 800 ended up being 3:00, with a nice pack together up front. The 2 laps were exactly the same pace.. 1:30 and 1:30. Then our 600.. I'm not sure what the time was on it, but our time at 400 m was 1:22. Then came a 400.. Coach told us to make this faster than the 1:22, but not so fast we couldn't beat it on the next 400. We ran it in 1:17.. I was a little afraid we wouldn't be able to beat that after running a 200, plus by this time my stomach was killing me.. But the 200 was fine. Then came the last 400.. The one that was supposed to be super speedy. By now, it was quite pouring rain and my stomach felt like someone was stabbing me. So I just wanted to get it over with. I ended up running it in 1:08. And the 200 after was still pretty good. So it felt good to have a good workout even with a stomachache and the usual pains (my back and my toe). But I didn't really care how good my workout was, cause my stomach was just dying, so on the cool down I got a little snippy with Stoner.. Sorry Rach! (: by the time we finished the cool down, I just wanted to collapse. And I had to pee like none other, so I was kinda snippy with Roberts too when they gathered us under the booth thing. Really, I was just not a pleasant person today.

AM: Easy 3.. smelled like wet bird over by Arctic Circle, and I was gagging super bad.. Prolly grossed TB out. Sorry girl.

PM: Well.. I wasn't sure of the mileage cause someone won't update the PVHS blog. And yes, I'm being intentionally snippy. We had wave hills today.. six of them! Felt fine.. Super muddy and icky over there, and I was sliding all over the place, but the weather was great and I felt good. The end.

Master Blasters today! I teamed up with TB and Annelise.. we took 2nd, but we'd have won if Mia wasn't a cheater. Super fun. Pizza warm up/cool down. Excited for state!

Three laps around a school.. Fun and easy.

Warmed up around the course with the girls. Got yelled at twice because 'the course is CLOSED!' during races. We weren't actually on the course the second time they yelled at us, but I guess we looked like we might decide to dart out there when they weren't watching.

Race: Well.. This is it. Kind of. I mean, we have post season races and all that, but really, state is the one we work toward.. And for me, that's over. I was feeling super confident going into the race. I was really just super ready to get out there and run so well. And for the first lap, right up until the downhill after the huge hill, I was doing pretty good. But then it all just kinda left me.. I felt like a deflating balloon. At the end, the only thing that got me going again was the thought 'do it for the team'. So, afterward, I was disappointed. But Coach pulled me aside and kinda just told me to put it into perspective.. It's been an amazing four years. I've had the most challenging, exhausting, but most of all fun, times of my life on this team. As much as I hated it at the beginning, I wouldn't trade this experience for anything. It's the most rewarding thing I've ever done, and I am so so grateful for the opportunity to have run on the team through all of high school. Yeah, this race wasn't the greatest. But it's not so much about how I did this race as it is everything I've achieved since I was a freshman. Don't get me wrong.. I definitely wish I had ended the season on a happier note. But I'd rather focus on the big picture. Thank you so much to everyone who has made this experience so awesome for me!

First day back from break.. we all felt fat and out of shape, but Coach didn't care. We had Sunrise hills.. 4 of them. Joy.

The first one felt the hardest.. when we got to the really steep part at the top, my legs fell off and rolled all the way back down the hill. Let me tell ya, getting them back was a challenge. But after I recovered from that little incident, the other three didn't feel too terrible. On the last one, I really felt like I pushed up that last little bit.. no times or anything though. I felt like I might puke every time we got to the top, but I never did, so that was good news. The way back to the school felt FOREVER long, and my ribcage felt all tight and weird, and made it kinda hard to breathe. But after a little bit it stopped.

AM: Arctic Circle.. Super sore from yesterday!

PM: Long hill run to Green Springs at a semi-quick pace. Tried to stick all the level 2's and 3's together.. It didn't work so well. Good pace.. We played with some yummy smelling bushes and such. My legs hurt so bad after.. Just super sore and stuff.. So I stretched. And, uh, holy goodness! I was just adding up mileages to see where the girls are at.. Too bad I do soccer and am a hundred miles behind everyone. Pathetic. But Liz and Mia are legit, so that's cool.

Easy 4 to single double church. Megan Finch ran with us.. That was fun. Except I didn't really talk to anyone but Roberts, cause I'm awkward, I guess. Oh, and I ran this morning. Cold.

Missed morning practice this morning.. I had an awkward breakfast with my parents and some overachieving high school seniors, where I was reminded that I am extremely inadequate and unprepared for the college world.. A 3.9 GPA and 3 AP classes just isn't good enough anymore, I guess.. I did get a nice pencil there though, so it wasn't a total waste.

PM: Little workout that was something like Michigans, except for, ya know, this was fun. Pretty much, we ran hard for 1 min, 2 min, 3 min, 3 min, 2 min, 1 min, respectively. We were supposed to sprint for the last few seconds of each one, except we couldn't really hear Coach whistling, so we missed two of them. Otherwise, it was pretty fun. Mia and I convinced Stoner (through rather impressive telepathy, might I add. I'm getting pretty good at mental communication, if I do say so myself.) that we still had 3 one-minuters at the end when we actually just had one.. But we won't bring that up, cause she wasn't very happy with us when she found out. Anywho, good workout. Harts warm/cool.

2000 time trial! We were supposed to hit our average 1000 time from our best workout this year for each of the laps. Ours was around 3:30. The first lap we hit 3:27, then the next we hit 3:38 for a total of 7:05.. Not terrible, but probably shoulda made the second lap quicker. Then we had 2x1000 with 3 minute recovery or something like that. We ran our first one in 3:29.. I think. The reason I'm not totally for sure is because I was trying not to let my psycho little sister pass me at the end.. But that's what Stoner said after. The next felt harder.. Alli killed the start and I was just trying to keep up with her (Stoner ran over a small child and had to catch back up, so she wasn't around yet). Never thought I'd be fighting for a spot between the softball fence and scoreboard with an eighth grader, much less my sister. I gotta admit though, I was pretty proud of her.. Don't tell her that. Anyway, then Stoner caught back up and we went together, ending in a 3:26. Pretty good workout. Felt good, except I think I've developed a hole in my heart that squeezes my whole ribcage when we warm up and cool down. It still kinda hurt after while I was driving home.. But I distracted myself by wondering which way Coach would drive to get home.. Then he drove up beside me and I creeped.. He didn't see me. Anyway, it answered my question.. He turns right by Zion's bank, just so everyone knows.

AM: So, for some reason, no one was at practice when Stoner and I got there, so we started running by ourselves.. and on the way, we found some air horns. On our way back, Stoner dropped hers and it rolled into the bushes.. so we went looking for it. And when we found it, somehow, we both accidentally pressed the buttons at the same time.. right as the girls ran by! We didn't mean to scare them or anything, promise. (:

PM: What a lovely run. We ran 5 up into Green Springs with Liz and Maquel and Megan Finch and Meskerum (uh.. let's just be glad she doesn't have a blog so she can see how awfully I butchered her name). We had berry wars and leaf wars and taught the girls how to say "erb" and discussed boys (my opinion: they're all disgusting and should be sent to Mars) and gave ourselves antennae! Mia's got a little bruised and Stoner's and Liz's got stolen, but they were still beautiful. Striders after! Fun fun.

AM: Michigan. Wasn't feeling my best this morning.. and I let it show during the Michigan. Ran a minute slower than my last time. I don't really know what was wrong, other than I was feeling icky and my metal toughness was not present at the time. I was struggling to hang on through the 1 1/2 mile part, and then we got to the gate to go onto the track and I got cut off.. and with the pace change, I just lost it. I forget how horribly difficult it is to push when I don't have Stoner next to me! I picked it up a little on the last few laps of the second 1 1/2 section.. enough to still hit A standard and such. Not super happy about the workout, but I'm letting it go.

PM: Easy 3 (but not easy 3 pace, thank heavens)! We ran over to 2450 to do a barefoot run. Michael and Abel took forever to get through the gate, so we were far behind the rest of the crew. And then, Michael and Byron led us astray, so we ran farther than we were supposed to. This is what I mean about the need to send all boys to Mars. Anyway, it was a dandy run. Felt way nice to just have an easy 3 after school.. I was looking forward to it all day. (: